Guardian Lion: BBW Lion Shifter Paranormal Romance (Cedar Hill Lions Book 2)

by Chant,Zoe

  It had taken every ounce of his self-control not to just scoop her up in his arms right there and then, and carry her away from anyone and anything that might be trying to harm her. As it was, the man who’d attacked her had been lucky he’d gotten away when he did. If he’d still been holding onto him, Heath didn’t know what he would have done once he’d found out the truth of the situation.

  He’d been tempted to go chasing after the man. The strong discipline he’d learned during twelve years in the army had never served him so well as it did now. If he’d had less self-control, he knew he would have shifted and torn the man who’d attacked her apart with his claws. That’s what his lion wanted, but he’d clamped down quickly on that impulse. No, he’d told it. Stay with our mate. She’s frightened. She needs us. The lion had – grudgingly – agreed.

  Right now, Heath couldn’t think about anything else but making sure she was safe. He needed to stay close by her side, and never let her out of his sight again – at least, not until he knew what was going on, and he’d made sure whoever was out to get her would never have the chance.

  She was sitting in front of him now in her boss’ office, sipping a cup of tea to calm her nerves. He was burning to know the full story, but he wanted to give her time to get her thoughts in order.

  Heath spent the time studying her instead. She was every bit as beautiful as he’d thought she was during their brief encounter at the bar. Gorgeously curvy in her fitted suit, the arch of her hips and the swell of her breasts sending fire to his belly.

  Her skin was pale and her lips looked soft and perfect – he knew if he kissed them once, he’d never be able to stop. She was everything he found attractive in a woman.

  And she was his mate. The one person in the world who was meant for him alone.

  No wonder his lion hadn’t been giving him a lick of peace since he’d first laid eyes on her.

  It all made sense now.

  Daphne’s boss – Terry, Heath had to remind himself his name was, seeing as he was having trouble focusing on anything that wasn’t Daphne right now – took the empty cup from her fingers.

  “Are you all right?” he asked her, with the solicitousness of a father.

  Daphne nodded. “Yes. I was just a bit shaky once the adrenaline wore off, but I’m okay.” She laughed. “Just a broken heel on my shoe.”

  Heath glanced down, swallowing. She’d taken the shoe off, and he couldn’t stop his eyes from drifting down her shapely leg to her adorable foot.

  “Can you tell us what happened?” Heath asked her, clearing his throat. “Why that man was trying to kidnap you? Can you think of any possible reason?”

  Daphne hesitated a moment, obviously reluctant. Then she sighed. “I know exactly why he did it – even if he hadn’t told me, I would have known.” She looked up, licking her lips. “Terry, this might come as a bit of a surprise, I’m afraid. Daphne Pearce isn’t my birth name – it’s Daphne Davenport. You might not remember my name, but you might know my parents: Greyson and Jolene Davenport.”

  Heath blinked. Of course he knew who they were: everyone knew of Jolene Davenport – one of the biggest movie stars of the ’70s and ’80s, before she’d transitioned into doing high-profile charity work. She’d married a politician just before she’d retired from acting. Heath didn’t really follow politics, so he wasn’t sure what he was doing now, or if he was still in politics.

  “Greyson Davenport? As in Senator Greyson Davenport?” Terry asked, sounding shocked.

  Heath supposed that answered that question.

  Daphne nodded. “That’s right. I decided when I was younger I didn’t want to grow up like that, so I changed my name, went to college in another state, and I’ve tried to fly under the radar since then. I just wanted a quiet life – I thought I’d managed it. But it seems like these people have found out who I am.”

  “So this was an attempt to get a ransom,” Heath said. Everything was falling into place.

  Daphne nodded. “It must be. My parents aren’t exactly short of money. It was something I was always warned about and had to be careful of while I was growing up. I had a bodyguard back then – she followed me everywhere. I felt like I never had a moment to myself.”

  “How do you think they found out who you are?” Heath asked.

  Daphne shook her head. “I don’t know. But he seemed certain – I tried to act like I didn’t know what he was talking about, but it didn’t throw him for a second. That was when I stomped on his foot and threw my coffee at him. He was telling me to stay quiet and there were a lot of people around, so I thought if I drew as much attention as possible he’d probably run for it.”

  “You did the right thing.” Heath was impressed. She’d made a cool assessment of the situation, and come up with a plan of action. Too often he’d seen civilians in emergency situations start to panic, which inevitably made any situation worse. But Daphne was brave and level-headed, as well as beautiful. He loved everything about her.

  But then, she was his mate.

  He’d always think she was perfect, no matter what.

  “Did you get a good look at his face?” Heath asked. “Could you identify him to police?”

  Daphne nodded. “I’m sure I could.”

  “Then we’ll go together and make a police report,” Heath said. “I’ll take you down to the station myself. And then, we’ll get you somewhere safe.”

  Daphne’s head shot up. “Somewhere safe?” she asked. “But I’m safe here. I can’t just stop my entire life because of this. This is exactly what I didn’t want when I decided to try to live my own life – I don’t want to be under guard or always having to hide, just because of who my parents are.”

  “I can understand that,” Heath said. “But this is an exceptional circumstance. These men have already tried to kidnap you once. He’ll know you saw his face and could identify him – the next time, it might not be a kidnapping attempt.”

  Heath didn’t want to frighten her, but his protectiveness was making him speak quickly and urgently. His lion growled. It wanted Daphne to understand just how much danger she could be in.

  Daphne licked her lips quickly. “I know,” she said. “But if I just run and hide, what kind of life is that?”

  “You wouldn’t be just running away. We’ll make a police report. You can give them the man’s description. But it’s not safe for you to be here alone right now.”

  Tell her you’ll protect her, Heath’s lion insisted. It didn’t do it in words, of course, but Heath had learned to read its body language perfectly. After all, he had grown up with the lion there inside him. It was a part of him.

  Daphne was frowning a little. “Not safe for me to be alone? What does that mean?”

  “It means that – ” Heath cut himself off. He’d gotten carried away. It was likely Daphne didn’t know anything about shifters, even if she believed they existed. She certainly wouldn’t know anything about mated bonds. Shifters tended not to share that information with outsiders. Telling her now that he would protect her – that he’d die to protect her, that that was what a mate did – would only freak her out.

  “It means that I can offer you protection,” Heath said. “We don’t know who these men are, or what they’re willing to do. But right now, it’s my professional opinion that it’s not safe for you here. Nowhere along your usual routes, or places you habitually frequent. They might have been watching you for some time.”

  Again, he wasn’t trying to scare her. She’d shown she was tough. She could handle the reality of her situation.

  “We hired you to look after Terry and the staff here,” Daphne said after a pause, during which Heath could see she was thinking things over. “Will you still be able to do that too?”

  Heath hesitated. It was true, this was the job he’d been hired to do – not bodyguarding Daphne. He knew Sandra and Hector wouldn’t be pleased if he backed out now. They’d probably prefer it if Heath stayed here, and, if Daphne would allow it, assign someone
else to look after her – someone with more experience.

  The moment the thought entered his head, however, his lion threw back its head and roared, infuriated at the idea that anyone other than them would be responsible for the safety of their mate.

  Never. Never!

  Daphne was his mate. No one else would have the same connection, the same dedication to her safety, as he would.

  He wouldn’t do a good job of guarding Terry’s business, anyway – he’d be too preoccupied with Daphne, what she was doing and whether she was safe. He didn’t trust another soul in the world with his mate.

  “I know,” he said eventually. “But let me talk to my boss. I’m sure she’d be prepared to assign another guard.”

  Daphne blinked, evidently a little surprised. “But what about you? I didn’t say I’d hire you – despite my parents, I don’t have enough money to pay for a round-the-clock bodyguard.”

  “In this case, when someone’s in danger, I work pro bono,” Heath said. And he would. Protecting his mate wasn’t a job – it was something every instinct he had insisted upon. He’d explain everything as soon as he could, though – or as soon as he could find the right words.

  Daphne’s eyes narrowed. “That seems a little too good to be true. What’s the catch?”

  I hope there’s no catch, Heath thought to himself. Would she freak out when he revealed the truth? That he was a lion, and she was his mate?

  Something told her she wouldn’t – that she wasn’t that kind of person – but still…

  “Daphne, I know how independent you are, but it really would make me feel a whole lot better at least if you took Mr. Whittaker up on his offer,” Terry broke in. “I can’t help but feel responsible for all of this. If I hadn’t been such a fool, these thugs wouldn’t be hassling you, and you wouldn’t be in danger. Please – until this is straightened out, at least consider it? For my sake, if not your own?”

  Heath watched as Daphne wavered, before finally, she sighed heavily. “All right,” she said. “I’ll do it.”

  Elation surged through Heath. His mate was coming with him. Where she’d be safe. He could look after her, and make sure she was protected.

  “I think it’s the right choice,” he said, trying not to sound too excited, even as his lion sprang up, spry as a kitten. “Let me go call Sandra. She’ll find a new security guard for this job, and then we can be on our way.”

  Daphne looked up at him, and he could see apprehension in her eyes. Apprehension, but Heath imagined he could see just the smallest amount of desire there too.

  That made sense. Even if she didn’t know what it was, she’d be able to sense how they were drawn to each other. Even to humans, a mated bond was obvious.

  For a second, Daphne clenched her fists, then she looked away. “All right,” she said, sounding resigned. “All right.”

  Chapter Five

  Daphne

  Daphne watched from the window of Heath’s car as he moved along the outside fence of her apartment building. He was moving slowly and carefully, checking every parked car, before running his fingers inconspicuously along the handle of the gate.

  She was tired after making the police report – it had taken three hours, and they’d been a little less than helpful.

  Maybe that wasn’t entirely fair, she thought. They’d listened to her, at least, agreed that it was a serious attempt, had her create an identikit image of the man, and then sent her on her way. She supposed there wasn’t a whole lot more they could do at this stage, but it had seemed to Daphne like they were just going through the motions.

  But I have Heath.

  The words flashed into her mind unbidden.

  She still couldn’t quite believe he’d dropped the job at Terry’s in order to personally guard her wellbeing. What kind of man would do that? Was he really that good of a guy that he’d pass up on a well-paying job just to make sure she was safe?

  Looking at him through the car window, Daphne wasn’t sure she knew why he’d done it, but she did know she felt safe with him.

  She couldn’t explain it, but she knew what she felt.

  Trusting her gut was something she’d been trying to do more lately. If she’d listened to her instincts more often in the past, she might have spared herself a lot of pain with false friends and people who had turned out to be only hanging around with her for her parents’ names.

  For a moment, Daphne felt a short, piercing pain as she wondered if that was the case with Heath, too – that he had only made this offer in the hope of swinging a lucrative job as a bodyguard for her famous, glamorous mother.

  Would he really do that?

  She couldn’t quite bring herself to believe it.

  He’d helped her at the bar before he’d known who she was, and had come to her rescue when the bald man had been trying to haul her off the street. He hadn’t known a thing about her then, but he’d still helped.

  Daphne watched as Heath bent over, checking the bottom of the gate.

  Hot. Damn.

  She swallowed. She somehow felt it was wrong to be ogling him while he was engaged in the serious work of protecting her, but she couldn’t help it. For such a big guy, he moved with a grace that was almost catlike. Despite the biting cold, he was wearing shirtsleeves, rolled up over his thick, muscular forearms.

  Between that and the black pants he was wearing, his broad chest and tapering waist were shown off to perfection. Despite all his muscles, he wasn’t one of those bodybuilder types, who looked like a bunch of walnuts stuffed in a sock – everything about him was lean and perfectly proportioned.

  He moved confidently, strong and precise in everything he did. It was clear that he knew exactly what he was doing. Not a single movement was wasted. Daphne knew she was hardly alone in finding competence sexy in a man, but after spending so much of her time in the preening, boastful worlds of politics and show business, she could appreciate how rare such quiet strength and proficiency truly were.

  Daphne felt a spike of desire shoot through her as she watched him – something that hadn’t happened to her in a very long time. She could feel her face flushing red, like she was a schoolgirl with her first crush.

  Stop, she scolded herself. Yeah, he offered to bodyguard you, but that’s his job. He’s being professional, and you’re being ridiculous.

  Still, she couldn’t stop the curl of arousal in her belly as she watched Heath turn and begin to walk back toward the car, calm and confident.

  She wound down the window as he approached, so he could lean in and talk to her.

  “I’ve taken a good look around – it seems safe to me. The cars are empty. No one’s tampered with the security gate, so if anyone’s inside, it’s because they figured out the code. Needless to say, I’ll go in first. I’d honestly be surprised if there was anything to worry about, but let’s play things safe.”

  That sounded fine to Daphne. Playing things safe had been what she’d wanted to do her whole life.

  Getting out of the car, she let Heath lead her to the gate, where she punched in the security code. He was standing so close to her that Daphne could feel the heat radiating from his body.

  Impossible. Stop being so silly, she told herself again. What was wrong with her? She’d never been the type to lose her head over a man.

  But Heath’s big, strong, warm body by her side was making her heart thump, and her stomach turn over. It was arousing and comforting all at the same time.

  It’s just adrenaline, Daphne thought as she walked down the corridor to her apartment door, turning the key in the lock. It’ll wear off. I’m just feeling weird because of everything that’s happened.

  Heath went through the door and into her apartment first, waving her to follow him, but holding up his hand for her to stop and stay just inside the door. Again, she watched the same quiet competence as before as he moved through her small apartment. She heard the door to the bathroom open and close; the rustle of clothes and hangers as he checked her closet.r />
  Daphne had the sudden, somewhat irrational thought that she was glad she was by nature a tidy person – not that it mattered, it wasn’t like he was inspecting her place for errant dust and grime.

  “It’s clear,” Heath said when he reappeared. “Maybe I was being a bit paranoid, but like I said, let’s play it safe.”

  Daphne swallowed. She hadn’t realized how tense she was. “Well… in that case, can I get you a coffee?” She felt a little foolish as soon as the words were out of her mouth. But she wasn’t exactly sure what to say: the bodyguards she’d had as a child were always silent and impassive.

  Heath smiled. “Sure.”

  Daphne hurried to the kitchen, busying herself with the coffeemaker. It was one of the few luxuries she allowed herself, despite otherwise being quite frugal with her living expenses.

  She half-turned as Heath followed her into the kitchen, before quickly turning away. She’d hoped for a moment to herself to collect her thoughts and try to slow her racing heart, but watching as he leaned his long body against the wall, she couldn’t really bring herself to mind.

  “This place is nice. Simple,” he said, glancing around the kitchen. “Given your background, I guess I expected something really swish,” Heath admitted. “But I really prefer something like this – nice and cozy. Did your parents get it for you?”

  “I rent it myself,” Daphne said, a little more defensively than she’d meant to.

  “Sorry. I realize that was kind of a jerk thing to say,” Heath said, laughing a little. “I guess I just assumed. Hell, if my parents were rich I’d be leaning on them for everything, and I mean everything.”

  Daphne laughed, her defensiveness melting. The smell of the coffee as it poured from the machine and into the two cups below made her mouth water. “My job at my old firm was pretty well-paying, but the culture sucked. Everything was just about trying to con clients into buying services they didn’t need. I pretty much lived on ramen for about two years so I could save every cent I could, but at the end of it, I had enough for a little bit of a cushion. I took a pretty huge pay cut to move out here and start working at Terry’s, so I really needed it at the beginning.” She shrugged. “I felt like it would have been hypocritical of me – not wanting any of the drawbacks of having famous parents, while keeping all of the benefits.”