When the door opened, a woman answered. She was dressed in a black suit, her blonde hair pulled back in a French twist. Her makeup was minimal, as was her jewelry. “Mr. Holmes. Mr. Lowe is expecting you.”
Shock raced through Heather’s system. Everyone knew that name. “Mr. Lowe? As in the Leo?”
The woman looked at her and smiled softly. “Ms. Allen.” She tipped her head in greeting. “A pleasure to meet you. I’m Mr. Lowe’s assistant, Savannah Harper.” She stepped back and waved toward the interior of the home. “Please, come in.”
Heather followed Mr. Holmes into the house. Light wooden floors, scarred from years of claws and paws, gave the room a homier look than she’d thought possible from the outside. A stairway off to the left led to a balcony that overlooked the entryway, while a set of glass doors on the right showed off a gorgeous office filled with bookshelves and showcasing a partner’s desk. Beyond the entryway, she could see light wooden floors taking over where the marble let off. “It’s beautiful.”
“Thank you. The Leo is very proud of his family home.” Savannah Harper led them under the balcony to a large great room.
Where the front of the home was smaller windows with wrought iron cages over them, the back was nothing but windows overlooking the mountains and the pool area. Two couches faced one another, both overstuffed leather. Between them was a battered-looking coffee table that could probably handle a full-grown Lion pouncing on it in play. Matching end tables had lamps with stone bases that matched the huge fucking fireplace on the right side of the room.
“Please, have a seat. Sebastian will be with you in a moment.” Savannah Harper left the room, ostensibly to fetch the goddamn ruler of the entire shifter fucking world.
Heather fucking sat.
Artemis picked her up off the floor and put her on the sofa. “Barney might ask me some uncomfortable questions if he finds bruises on your ass.”
“Guh.” They were about to meet the Leo. Wasn’t she supposed to be at least a little freaked out?
Mr. Holmes took a seat next to her, his bodyguards standing behind them. “The Leo will—” He squawked indignantly as Artemis shoved him down one seat. “Mr. Smith!”
“What?” Artemis slumped into the seat between Heather and Mr. Holmes.
The bodyguards did nothing, just stood there with their hands clasped in front of them. When Mr. Holmes glared at them, the one who’d spoken to Heather and laughed at her song shrugged his shoulders. “He’s her bodyguard, sir.”
He said it as if Mr. Holmes should have understood that and automatically seated himself somewhere else. Instead, Mr. Holmes glowered at Artemis. “You could stand with my men.”
Artemis stared at Mr. Holmes as if he were a moron. “Then what would I do if you and your men turn against her?” He shook his head and turned to Heather. “When the Leo gets here, stay calm. He’s a nice guy, or so I’ve heard.”
“Thank you, Mr. Smith. It’s nice to know someone out there likes me.” A tall, blond man with striking hazel eyes and a wide, open smile sauntered into the room. Behind him was a dark-haired man, with dark, cold eyes, and behind him—
“Barney!” Heather darted past both men to her mate, who grunted in pain when she hit him. “What happened?” She could smell blood, his blood, all over him, and her Fox started going nuts. She began crying in distress, the sounds pouring out of her as she instinctively tried to soothe her wounded mate.
Hard hands landed on her shoulders. She was pushed back, Barney’s blue eyes riddled with the brown of his Bear. “Why are you here?”
“Huh.” Artemis replied before she could. “I’m guessing he didn’t send us those plane tickets after all.”
Artemis was going to get himself killed if he kept taunting the Bear.
“Heather?” More brown seeped into Barney’s gaze.
She took the deepest breath she could. “Your email address was legitimate and we couldn’t decide if it was a trap or not and Mom gave me a safe word and if I say it the cavalry charge starts and Mr. Holmes took us here even though he was kinda douchey to me and he knows about the white shifters but he wouldn’t tell us anything so I sang the Fox song, the really annoying one, and Artemis has been really protective so don’t skin him please?” She panted, all out of breath. “How did you get hurt?”
Barney’s mouth hung open in shock. Good. While he was processing, he couldn’t yell at her.
The Leo, on the other hand, began to laugh. “Did you just call the Lion Senator a douche?”
The douche stood and cleared his throat. “You’ve mated, Barnwell.”
Barney shifted his gaze to the Lion Senator. “Yes.”
Mr. Holmes scowled. “You know Hunters aren’t supposed to mate until near retirement. You yourself preached this to all of your trainees. Why did you break protocol?”
Barney growled, the sound almost subsonic.
Mr. Holmes acted as if he didn’t hear a thing. “You should be in Montana, protecting your territory, not chasing some teenager across the country so you could mate her.”
The growl wasn’t so subsonic now. The blue was completely gone from his eyes too. Heather had to do something before Barney obliterated a Senator for being an asshole. “Barney.” He kept his eyes on the Senator but tightened his hold on her, pulling her against his chest. “Someone sent me plane tickets to come here.”
“Did you send them, Holmes?” Barney’s tone was silky smooth, deadly in its calm.
Mr. Holmes sighed. “Of course I did. She’s part of this and needs to be here, under guard.”
“Not Chloe?” If Holmes knew about the white shifters, then he must know about her cousin.
“We tried that, but she resisted. You were our second choice, as you were the second most vulnerable.”
“So you planned to kidnap my mate all along?” Barney snarled, his hands flexing across her back. She could feel his claws scraping at the cloth of her shirt.
“Are you the one who sent that bounty hunter after Chloe?” If he said yes he’d have to fend off a rabid Fox.
Mr. Holmes stared at her blankly before returning his gaze to Barney. “Well, Barnwell?”
“I think that’s enough, Holmes.” The Leo’s tone was commanding, forcing Mr. Holmes to shut up.
The Lion Senator glared at Barney once more before sitting down.
Artemis stood and bowed to the Leo. “Sire.”
“Artemis Smith.” The Leo smiled and held out his hand. “It’s good to finally meet you.”
Artemis shook the Leo’s hand. “It’s a pleasure, sire.”
“I understand you have a sister who’s a Hunter?” The Leo took a seat across from Mr. Holmes, the other, dark-haired man sitting right next to him. “Oh, by the way, this is my cousin, and head of my security, Kincade Lowe.”
Kincade nodded. “Speaking of security, Sebastian, I found Barnwell in our jail.”
Sebastian looked shocked. “Our jail?”
Kincade nodded grimly. “Seems someone put his furry ass in there after tranquilizing it.”
“Shit.” Sebastian rubbed his chin as he stared at Barney. “Find out if anyone else in our jail is an accidental guest, Kin. I want to know ASAP.”
“Done.” Kincade stood and stepped to the side, speaking softly into something strapped to his wrist.
Sebastian turned back to Artemis. “As I was saying, your sister is a Hunter?”
Artemis nodded. “She’s currently guarding Chloe Williams, sire.”
“Good.” Sebastian shot a hard look at Mr. Holmes. “She stays in Halle, along with the Hunters already there.”
Mr. Holmes’s cheeks flushed and his eyes narrowed. It looked like he didn’t care for the Leo’s words. “But, Leo, there’s—”
“That’s an order, Ian.”
Heather bowed her head, along with every other shifter in the room. The power that f
lowed from the Leo in that moment was so overwhelming her sight began to dim. She’d do anything she could to obey that order and keep the Hunters in Halle. She’d never felt anything like it in her life.
The power continued to flow through the room until Holmes muttered, “Yes, sire.” Then it was gone, and Heather found herself being held up by Barney because her knees had completely given out. She felt like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders, but the need to keep the Hunters in Halle was still strong. If magic existed, this was what she imagined a geas must feel like. “Damn. Remind me to kick my brother’s ass.”
Barney titled her chin up, forcing her to look up at him. “Why?”
She grimaced. “When we played D&D he put a geas, a magical compulsion, on me to always protect his cleric. Now I know what that feels like. You really need to get back to Halle.”
He chuckled. “It wasn’t directed at you, so it will ease in a couple of hours.”
Hours? Shit. “Can I sit, please? I can’t feel my feet.” Barney scooped her up in his arms, ignoring her protests. “Put me down, Boo-Boo.”
“Boo-Boo?” the Leo muttered.
“Why?” Barney demanded, refusing to move even when she poked his shoulder.
She showed him the blood on her finger. “You’re hurt, dumbass!”
“Nothing I can’t handle.” Barney turned to the now seated Leo. “Can we stay the night? My mate and I need to have a little chat.”
Sebastian waved his hand. “Take the guest room you used last time. We’ll talk more in the morning.”
“Yes, sire.” Barney walked out of the great room and headed for the stairs at the front of the house. “You’ve got some explaining to do, young lady.”
“Hmph.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“You scared the fuck out of me,” Barney growled. He led his wayward mate into the bedroom they’d been assigned. He was ready to paddle her ass for coming to Sedona. “I know the email came from my email address, but why didn’t you call and make sure I’d sent it?”
“I did. I even left you a voicemail message, but you never called back.” She flopped down on the bed, her arms spread, her legs dangling over the edge. “Oh, this is comfy.”
“Heather.” He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her, trying to ignore how cute she was being. She was acting like a kitten, rolling on the bed and practically purring in happiness.
“What?” She was now curled up in the middle of the bed. She’d managed to kick off her shoes, so her bare toes were peeking out from beneath the hem of her jeans.
She was so adorable, so innocent, he couldn’t imagine anyone taking that away from her. He’d fight to the death to keep her the way she was. He’d lose, he knew. Life did that to people, made them wary, even cynical. But he’d try and keep it to a minimum with his precious little Hobbit.
“You should have stayed home.”
“You too!” She winced. “Sorry. You said this would wear off in an hour or two?”
“Yes.” He ran his fingers through his hair as everything that could have happened to her ran in a loop behind his eyes. He’d seen some pretty horrific things in his time as a Hunter, and he was picturing his mate in each and every one of them. “I don’t care how many ways you checked things out or that Artemis was with you, or that everything turned out okay in the end.”
“Whoa.” She sat up, her expression serious, finally. “Calm down, big guy.”
“Your job is not to protect me.” He could feel his Bear rising, determined to make her understand that it would be him, not her, who did the protection thing.
“You better not say my job is to be barefoot and pregnant.” She glared at him, her eyes turning Foxy brown.
“Hell no.” He was the last person who’d say something like that. “But I’m trained to Hunt.” He stepped toward the bed, trying desperately to get her to understand. “I’ve killed when I’ve been forced to. I know how to protect myself.” He lifted his shirt and showed a small scar. “This? This is the worst damage I’ve ever sustained, and I healed it. It took me two days, but I did it.” He lowered his shirt again. “But if something happened to you, there’s no way I could heal it.” He held out his hand, letting her see him shaking, showing her his vulnerability. “I still have nightmares about you being shot.”
She closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against his stomach. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to make you worry like this.”
“Tell me it was stupid.” He needed to hear her acknowledge that.
“I knew it might be a trap, and I took precautions, but yeah. I’ll tell you it was stupid.”
She was placating him. “You’d do it again.”
She looked up at him and grinned. “Fuck yes.”
He pulled her against him, lifting her until she was held against his chest. “Stupid Hobbitses.”
“If you call me your Precious, I’m gonna—” she squinted up at him as his hold on her tightened, “—be extremely flattered.”
She looked so irritated at the thought that he had to laugh. His Bear had begun to settle down now that she was in their arms, safe and secure. It might not be his den, but with Kincade and Sebastian Lowe in bedrooms near them, it was almost as good.
He brushed his chin over the spot where her mark was. The sensation would be muffled by her T-shirt, but she’d still feel something.
She moaned, hiding her face against his chest.
The scent of desire began to fill the air around her. He breathed it in, letting it fill his senses. The need to fuck her, to prove that she was alive and well, filled him.
He pushed her down on the bed, ignoring her squawk of surprise. She had to move her legs so that her feet were on the mattress. He took hold of her knees and spread her thighs, kissing each fabric-covered knee in turn.
“Barney?” Her eyes were wide, but he could see the building desire in her.
“You make me crazy, you know that?” He took hold of her wrists and held her down. “You always have.”
“I figure it’s my job to make you nuts.” She gave him a cheeky grin. “Right, Gandalf?”
He coughed. “Aragorn. I’m definitely Aragorn.”
She tilted her head, still grinning at him. “Hmm. You’ve got that pretty blond hair.”
His brows rose. “Pretty?”
“And dazzling blue eyes.”
Oh hell no. “I’m not Legolas, damn it.”
“But Legolas was a Hunter too, remember?” She was barely holding back her laughter.
He pressed down against her so she wouldn’t accidentally knee him when he blew a raspberry on her neck.
She squealed, wiggling under him, her body rubbing against him in all the right ways. “Stop that!”
“Stop trying to give me a heart attack.” He stared down at her, hoping she’d pick up on how serious he was. “Nobody asked you to throw the ring in the volcano, Frodo.”
“He volunteered,” she pointed out. “Besides, I had Samwise with me, remember?”
Uh-huh. Speaking of which, he had a bone to pick with Artemis the next time he saw him. “And why didn’t he try to stop you?”
She looked away for a moment. “His eyes. They turned silver. Then he was shaking hands with Mr. Holmes like they were long lost buddies.”
Barney froze. “Tiger told him to go.”
“I think so.” She cupped his cheek. “We really didn’t plan on scaring you. We took every precaution we could think of.” Suddenly, she scowled. “And I have to call my mom.”
“What?” She was pushing at his shoulders, trying to get him off of her.
“I told her I’d call when I arrived. For all I know, she’s already—why are you dialing?”
He smiled down at her. There was no way in hell he was going to allow the Bunsun-Allen clan to descend on the Leo’s home. The man w
ould never be the same. “Hello, Mrs. Allen?”
“Oh, hello, Barney. Is my daughter there?”
He heard the edge in Stacey Allen’s voice. “She got distracted by meeting the Leo.”
“That’s no exc— Who? My baby met the Leo?”
He chuckled softly as Heather glared at him and her mother damn near choked to death.
“She’s here, safe and sound, and I’ll have her call you tomorrow. All right?”
“All right. Tell her I said good-night.”
He said his good-byes and hung up the phone. “Now. Where were we?”
She looked anywhere but at him. “I have no idea.”
“Mm.” He kissed her chin. “Then let’s get ready for bed.”
Her cheeks started to turn red. “We can do that.”
He hadn’t had a second chance to make love to her before returning to Sedona. Perhaps now was his chance to taste her again.
He let her up, watching her wander around the bedroom. Someone, probably Sebastian’s assistant, had seen to it that her luggage was brought upstairs to his room. She began unpacking, watching him out of the corner of her eye as he sat and watched her. “Need help?”
“I’ve got this, thanks.” She turned, smiling, holding a pair of flimsy panties.
“That’s…good.” He could feel his Bear. Both of them were fascinated by the emerald underwear. How would it look against her pale, freckled skin?
“Um.” Her eyes went wide as she shoved the panties behind her. “Yeah. I’ll just put these away.” She turned and nearly fell over the open suitcase. “Fucker.”
“Who, me or your carry-on?”
She glared at him.
He smiled. “Guess I’ll start getting ready, then.” He stood and yawned, stretching his arms over his head. He swore he could hear her gulp as he reached for the hem of his T-shirt. “You need to finish unpacking,” he added as nonchalantly as he could.
“Yes. Unpacking.” Her gaze moved to his groin. “Definitely unpacking.”
He had to bite his lip as she turned around and put her underwear on top of the bureau.
He pulled off the T-shirt. When it was right around his head he heard a distinct thud. She must have tripped over the suitcase again, because when he whipped it off she was righting herself, one hand on the bureau, the other clutching that same pair of green panties.
Indirect Lines: Halle Shifters, Book 5 Page 16
