by Paige Tyler
“Never heard of it.”
“Because it’s buried so deep no one except a few people know it exists.”
He snorted. “And I thought Special Operations Command kept secrets. What kind of work do you do at the DCO? And don’t say you’re a paper pusher. I didn’t believe you when you told me that last night.”
Eden finished the last of her dinner, then set her fork down on her empty plate and met his gaze. “I work on a team with three other agents. We specialize in providing personal protection to people who have been targeted by really bad individuals. Except the people we protect rarely ever know we’re there watching over them.”
“Sounds intriguing. How long have you worked for the DCO?” he asked as he polished off the rest of his meal.
“About four years.” She couldn’t believe how good it felt to share something as simple as where she worked with another person. She’d kept that part of her life secret for so long, it was almost a relief to finally talk about it. “I went to college for communications and journalism and figured I’d become a reporter, but the DCO recruited me a few months before I graduated. Mom and Dad have no idea how the heck I went from a journalism major to working for what they think is the DHS, and I don’t even try to explain it.”
“Your parents and sister know you’re a shifter, right?”
She shook her head. “I’ve never told them. My sister could probably handle it okay, but my mom and dad would lose their minds. They’d probably want me to go to the hospital so some doctor could cure me.”
“Yeah, I can see that.” He frowned. “It must suck keeping a secret like this from your family.”
“You have no idea. But it helps to have special people I can share it with.”
Travis grinned. “I’m glad you think I’m special enough to share your secret with.”
Eden felt tears prick her eyes and looked away before he could see. Handsome and sensitive? This guy was the total package.
“So, what did your friend say about the guys we fought in the alley?” Travis asked, changing the subject. “Any info yet?”
Eden cleared her throat and sat back in her chair, waiting while their server cleared the table before relaying everything Kendra had told her.
“Wait a minute. Someone hired those guys to beat up Brandon and Tim?” Travis asked. “What the hell are they into?”
“I don’t know, but I intend to find out.” Eden smiled. “Want to help me investigate?”
“We’re going to snoop on your future brother-in-law?” His mouth quirked. “Something tells me your sister wouldn’t be thrilled if she found out.”
“She also won’t be thrilled if she ends up marrying a creep,” Eden pointed out. “You up for a little breaking and entering?”
“Sure. I’m up for anything.”
Eden wondered if Travis knew how suggestive that little comment was. Almost certainly. That was probably why he’d said it. She didn’t call him on it as he paid the bill, though.
“Brandon and Emily are supposed to be at the country club near the beach for most of tomorrow afternoon and evening going over last-minute details for the wedding on Saturday,” she said as Travis drove her back to her hotel. “That should give us plenty of time to check out his apartment.”
Travis nodded. “Sounds good.”
While Eden had noticed how delicious Travis smelled the moment he tackled her in the alley last night, being in the close confines of the car with him was practically intoxicating. She loved having a keen sense of smell, but right now it was all she could do not to climb across the console, straddle his lap, and bury her nose in his neck. That definitely wouldn’t be a good idea while he was driving. So, instead, she settled for opening the window a bit to let in some fresh air. It didn’t help. If anything, the ocean breeze made his scent even stronger, and she had to fight to keep her inner feline from coming out.
She didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed when he pulled into the hotel parking lot. Why the heck was he having such a crazy effect on her?
She tried to calm her suddenly racing pulse as Travis came around and opened the door for her. By the time they’d ridden up in the elevator to the fourth floor and gotten to her room, she was back in control. Mostly. If he noticed her hand trembling a little as she took her keycard out of her purse, he didn’t say anything.
“Thanks for taking me to dinner,” she said.
“Thanks for trusting me with your secret,” he replied.
She nervously fingered the rectangular piece of plastic in her hand. “So, if my future brother-in-law turns out not to be a dirtbag and this wedding actually happens, would you like to come with me as my plus-one?”
He gave her a slow, sexy smile. “I’d love to.”
This was usually the part of the evening where she and a guy kissed good night. With Travis, she’d like to do a lot more than kiss. Sleeping with a guy on the first date wasn’t something she did, no matter how gorgeous he was, but for him, she might make an exception.
She wet her lips with her tongue then ran it over her teeth to make sure her fangs hadn’t made an appearance without her knowing. That would be a sure way to scare a guy off, regardless of how accepting that guy seemed to be of her shifter half. And from the way Travis was gazing at her, he was definitely going to kiss her.
A door down the hallway slammed closed, pulling her out of the moment and reminding her they weren’t alone. Travis cleared his throat.
“I should go,” he said. “I’ll be back tomorrow ready for some B&E.”
Eden could only nod, disappointed he hadn’t kissed her like she’d hoped, and mad at herself for not being that same badass woman she’d been last night and kissed him instead of letting him walk away.
She was about to slide her keycard in the door when Travis stopped halfway down the hall and turned around. She waited for him to say something, but instead, he closed the distance between them in a half dozen strides and cupped her face in one hand then tilted her head back and covered her mouth with his.
This was the first time she’d ever kissed a man who knew what she was, and it felt extraordinary. Like she was free to finally be who she really was and not worry about holding back. So, she didn’t. Instead, she let out a little sound deep in her throat that was half moan, half purr, and tangled her tongue with his.
Travis slid his hands into her long hair, kissing her so hard she could barely breathe. Then, when she thought for sure she would pass out from lack of air, he dragged his mouth away and trailed it along the curve of her jaw to her ear.
“Your eyes are even more beautiful when they turn green,” he whispered huskily.
Eden was so high from his kisses, it took her a moment to process the words. When she finally did, her eyes went wide. She hadn’t even realized she’d shifted!
Travis kissed her again, a slow, tender kiss that made her knees weak all over. “Good night, Eden.”
Turning, he walked down the hall to the elevator, leaving her leaning against the door of her hotel room for support. Last night, she’d asked him if he tackled all the women he met or if she was special. But now she knew he was the special one.
CHAPTER FOUR
TRAVIS STIFLED A groan at the sight of Eden’s curvy hips swaying in front of him as he followed her up the stairs to Brandon’s third-floor apartment. In addition to being supermodel gorgeous, with long, silky hair and big, blue eyes that turned the most brilliant green he’d ever seen when she did the whole cat-thing, she had an absolutely killer body.
He’d woken up this morning with her taste on his tongue and a hard-on in his boxer briefs that could have cut glass. Not that he was complaining. Eden was amazing. He’d kissed a few women in his time, but none had gotten to him like she had. One kiss and he’d been transported to a heaven he hadn’t even known existed. It sounded crazy, but he couldn’t think of any other way to describe the effect she had on him.
And okay, yeah, he’d been a little shocked to find out she
was a feline shifter. If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he would have called bullshit. But last night he’d discovered the world was far more complicated than he’d ever thought. No way in hell did he think Eden was a freak, though. Even when the fangs and claws came out, she was beautiful. Nothing she’d told him changed that.
Travis was so lost in thoughts of Eden, he didn’t even consider how they were going to get into Brandon’s apartment until they were at the guy’s door. He could kick it in, but that would probably attract a lot more attention than they wanted.
He was about to ask Eden if she had any special kitty-cat skills that would get them inside when she pulled out a lock pick set and dropped to one knee in front of the door. Well, damn.
“You sure you work for the good guys?” he asked as he followed her into the apartment and quietly closed the door behind them. “Because you do bad really well.”
She laughed as she switched on the overhead light, illuminating the living room. “I’m sure. But thanks for the compliment.”
Travis glanced around. Other than the sweet television that took up almost the whole wall opposite the couch, the place could have been his apartment. Unlike Brandon, he’d never splurged for a TV the size of a movie screen because he was never home long enough to watch it. Then again, Brandon probably wasn’t, either.
“What are we hoping to find?” Travis asked.
“I’m not sure,” Eden admitted. “Something indicating why those guys went after Brandon—if he was their intended target. Just look for anything suspicious. I’ll take the bedrooms.”
Suspicious could be a broad definition, Travis thought as he snooped around the living room. He was used to kicking in doors and taking down terrorists, not tossing an apartment. He could pass right by something important and never know it. Luckily, Brandon didn’t have a lot of places to hide stuff unless you counted the toilet bowl tank in the small bathroom off the main living area, and there wasn’t anything in there.
Wondering if Eden had better luck, Travis walked into the guest room-slash-home office. She was leaning over a laptop computer on the desk near the window.
“You said you’re good with computers, right?” she asked. “Any chance you can hack into this one?”
He grinned. Now they were talking. “There isn’t a computer I can’t hack.”
Eden stepped aside so he could sit down, then watched as he typed in the security password a few seconds later.
“Damn,” she said. “You are good. How’d you figure out his password so fast?”
“Because his password is password.”
“Seriously?”
Travis chuckled. “You’d be surprised how many people use it.”
She folded her arms and leaned her hip against the desk. “Huh.”
Travis ran his finger over the touchpad, clicking on the document folders and scanning the titles. He’d barely gotten anywhere when Eden’s phone rang. She frowned a little when she saw the name on the call screen.
“Who is it?” he asked.
“It’s Emily.” She thumbed the button and held the phone to her ear. “Hey, what’s up?”
Whatever Emily said must have alarmed the hell out of Eden because her eyes widened as she threw a quick glance at him.
“What a coincidence,” Eden said into the phone. “I’m at a coffee shop right down the street from Brandon’s place. Why don’t I meet you in the parking lot and you can show me what you’ve come up with for the DJ’s playlist?”
Eden hung up and shoved the phone into the back pocket of her jeans. “Emily and Brandon just pulled into the parking lot. I’m going to run down there and stall them. Wrap up as fast as you can then get out of here. I’ll meet you at the side door with the car.”
Travis opened his mouth to ask how the hell she was going to make it downstairs without them seeing her come out the front door of the apartment building, but Eden was already opening the sliding glass door that led onto a balcony. He didn’t even have time to ask what the hell she was doing before she leaped over the railing.
What the hell?
He raced onto the balcony just in time to watch her hit the ground. The force of the landing dropped her to one knee, but then she was up and running for the front of the complex like she was some kind of frigging superhero.
Shit.
Eden had forgotten to tell him about the part where she could jump off a third-floor balcony and land on her feet. Thank God it was nighttime and no one was around or she’d be on every social media site right now.
Travis slid the door closed then locked it before going back over to the desk. He quickly searched through the folders, looking for anything unusual. That was hard when he didn’t have a clue what he was looking for. A picture of Eden’s future brother-in-law cheating on Emily? A file with photos of the man accepting a bribe from a Mexican drug lord?
Luckily, Brandon was organized to the anal-retentive degree. He had perfectly labeled folders for his military, medical, and tax records, his various insurance policies, personal photos, and even one for the upcoming wedding and honeymoon to Hawaii. None of it was even remotely suspicious.
Travis glanced at his watch. Two minutes left. Just enough time to check Brandon’s Internet browsing history, including the sites that couldn’t be deleted and only a hacker could find. A quick glance confirmed Brandon was boring as hell.
Sure, he’d looked at a few porn sites—the guy wasn’t a monk—but it was dull, kink-free stuff, and there wasn’t much of it. The only other places he regularly visited were news and sports media outlets, wedding and honeymoon sites, and he made frequent checks to the couple’s gift registry at a fancy store. No dives into the dark web, no searches for explosives or drugs, nothing indicating the man had ever been involved in anything to get him beaten up by hired professionals.
Travis took a quick second to skim through Brandon’s emails, but there was nothing of any interest in those, either. Most of it was work stuff, and the rest lots of back and forth conversations with either Emily or Tim.
Shaking his head, Travis logged off the computer and shut it down then did a fast circuit of the apartment to make sure everything was back in its place before he bolted for the door. He turned right going out, heading for the emergency stairwell at the end of the building instead of the main one he and Eden had used earlier. He pushed open the heavy metal door at the end of the hall when he heard a man and woman in the midst of conversation at the other end of the corridor.
Eden pulled up in his rental car the moment he stepped outside. He opened the passenger door and got in as if they’d done this a hundred times.
“Anything?” she asked as she drove out of the parking lot.
He shook his head. “Nothing. As far as I can tell, your sister’s fiancé is clean. The guy barely even looks at porn, much less anything sinister on the Internet. I didn’t see anything in his email, either.”
She sighed. “That’s good, I guess.”
“But you still think Brandon’s involved in something.”
Eden chewed on her lower lip a moment before answering. “Call it feline instinct, but yeah.” She pulled into the lot of her hotel and found a space then glanced at him. “Do you want to come in so we can regroup and figure out where to go next? Or do you have other plans?”
He grinned. “I’m all yours.”
Eden smiled back and for a second, he thought he caught a flash of green in her eyes, but she turned away to open her door before he could be sure.
They just walked into her room when her cell phone rang. She dug it out of her pocket and held it to her ear.
“Hey, Kendra,” she said. “Hang on. I’m going to put you on speaker phone so Travis can hear, too.”
Eden thumbed the speaker button, then set her iPhone on the small, circular table to one side of the room and sat down.
“First off,” Kendra said after Eden made the introductions, “I still haven’t ID’ed the other three guys from the alley, but at least
I have something to go on. We got lucky when they ran a red light a few blocks from the restaurant. The photo is pretty grainy because it’s designed to focus mostly on the license plate and not so much the occupants of the vehicle, but tech is working to clear up the picture enough for facial recognition. I’m hoping to have something soon.”
“You’re telling me you can’t ID a six-foot-four wolf shifter without facial recognition?” Eden asked. “How many of them can there be?”
There was silence on the other end of the speaker. “Are we really going to have this conversation in front of Travis?”
Eden gave him a smile. “We are.”
More silence, then, “O-kay. Well, in that case, I’m still working through a few different angles. But the bottom line is that he’s almost certainly from outside the US and he’s not in our shifter database. The only way a shifter like him can stay off our radar is if he’s actively hiding from us, probably with the help of some very powerful people.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” Eden said.
“It isn’t,” Kendra agreed. “But for what it’s worth, I’m thinking Brandon wasn’t the target of that beatdown. It was Tim.”
Eden frowned. “What makes you say that?”
“Because while both guys are similar on the surface—officers at the Naval Operation Center at Norfolk with good military records—when you dig a little deeper, you realize that’s where the similarities end. Brandon is seriously squared away while Tim is broke and in debt up to his eyeballs. He’s using credit cards to pay for everything, including his other credit cards. My guess is he either has a substance abuse issue or a gambling problem. Considering his military record is still clean, I’m leaning toward the latter. Regardless, he’s close to everything blowing up in his face.”
“How the hell has he kept his security clearance if he’s in debt and has a gambling problem?” Travis asked. “Those things are red flags to the investigators when they do periodic background checks.”
