by E A Price
“You should really live in a building where you have to buzz your guests in. It’s not much, but at least it would stop just anyone wandering up and down your halls.”
But it would have stopped you getting in. “Did you come all the way over here to discuss my terrible security? Or was there another reason?”
“You’ve been crying,” he said accusingly.
She couldn’t deny it. She’d cried over the dead woman, she’d cried over the fact that she might have made a mistake about the boy, and she’d cried pathetically over what a mess she had made on her first day of work. Pity party – table for one!
“I’m worried that you might be right, about the boy. I’m worried that I was wrong…”
“You weren’t wrong,” he declared curtly.
“What?”
He sucked in a deep breath. “When we searched his room, we found pictures of women he’d clearly been stalking, and three of those women included the ones who were attacked. We found his roll of duct tape; it had some splashes of the third victim’s blood on from when he hit her. It was him. When we questioned him, he finally admitted it. The first three victims were girls who rejected him. But he broke down about Hilda; apparently he’d loved her for years, but fearing that she’d never love him back, he killed her.”
Erin let out a sob, and she felt her legs give way. In a flash, she was encircled by strong, warm arms and was soon deposited on the couch. He didn’t move away like she expected, no, he hovered over her, concern evident on his handsome face.
“Do you want me to get you a glass of water?”
“No! No, thank you, just don’t leave me… I just need a few moments.”
How could she say, I like having you so close to me? How could she articulate feelings that even she didn’t understand?
Gunner seemed satisfied with her answer and settled into the couch next to her, shoulder to shoulder. Or rather shoulder to bicep. He really was big. The drunken part of her mind wondered whether he was in proportion, you know, in all areas, but Erin quickly scolded herself. Now was not the time! Would there be another time?
“Getting this guy so quickly was a real boon, Erin. It’s a good job you were there.”
She felt pleasure at his words blossom within her. Actual praise!
“But, the way you went about it today…” He exhaled deeply. “Things could have been a lot worse. We got lucky finding that blood on the duct tape. If we hadn’t, he could have argued that everything was circumstantial. And worst of all, you could have been seriously hurt. No, you could have been killed.”
“I’m sorry,” she whimpered.
“Please, stop apologizing,” he groaned.
“I’m…” She caught herself before she said it again.
“Look, I came over here to say well done but also to bawl you out on the whole gun thing. So considered yourself officially told off.”
“Okay.”
Erin pinched the skin on her hand, and he watched her curiously.
Gunner turned to look at her, searchingly. “Seriously, how are you feeling?”
She shrugged. “My neck’s really sore.”
He ran a finger over the burgeoning bruises, and she shivered under his touch. She clamped her legs together as she felt her sex moisten. It ought to be illegal the way he made her feel. She wondered if he elicited the same reaction in all women? A spark of anger ignited in her. She didn’t want any other women to think of him that way. Only her.
His finger stopped as it reached her collarbone, and jeez, she almost begged him to keep going further until he reached her aching nipples. Her sex life had always been more of a pull your pants down, two minutes later it was all over, kind of deal. She couldn’t recall any man ever taking the time to touch her breasts even, but here they were, burning to feel this man’s touch. Yearning to feel, his big, rough hands on them. Even if Erin didn’t know what she wanted, her body sure did.
Erin licked her lips, and he actually moved an inch closer to her. For a moment, she thought he was going to kiss her.
Instead, he mumbled the word, “Drink.”
The spell was broken. “Huh?”
Gunner leaned back, and she almost mewled at the loss of heat from his large body. “The team always goes for a drink after we close a case, or when we’re stuck on a case, or when we just want a drink. We don’t really need an excuse to drink. You’re welcome to join us.”
She was tempted, sorely tempted, anything to prolong her time with this man, this shifter, who incited such feelings in her. But, she wasn’t really up to dealing with other people. Other judgmental people. “I’m a little tired, and I already had a couple of beers.”
His jaw ticked. “Next time.”
“Yes,” she agreed half-heartedly.
“I better go.”
Gunner bounded toward her door and started pulling at the locks and chains like he couldn’t get out of there quick enough. He paused before leaving, “You’ll be at work tomorrow, right?”
“Of course.”
“Good, I’ll see you then. Make sure you lock the door behind me.”
With that, he was gone. She gaped at the door before rushing to lock it; she didn’t want to give him an excuse to chastise her again.
Was he her boss or her dad? Right now, it was hard to tell just what he was trying to be. Why did she feel so confused around him? Why did she feel like he had some kind of hold over her?
Whatever it was, she couldn’t wait to see him again. Yikes, he’d been gone a minute and already she was missing his company.
Is this how everyone felt about their first crush? If it was, it was a wonder than anyone ever managed to get any work done!
Oh, she was screwed.
Chapter Five
Fuck, this was bad.
Gunner stared into his beer. His bear – his usually, sullen asshole of a bear – was practically dancing around like he hadn’t a care in the world. Stupid beast was no help. He couldn’t see the problem, but Gunner did.
It was all very well to find one of your teammates attractive; it was quite another to be desperate to rip her clothes off and sink inside her luscious body. He’d never felt such a deep-seated need for a woman. And god help him, it wasn’t just sexual. If it were, he could understand it. It would just be an itch he could scratch. But, oh no, couldn’t be that easy, could it? No, when he’d seen Erin, tear stained and bruised he’d wanted nothing more than to pull her into his lap and cuddle with her. He wanted to be intimate with her. Fuck, he was losing it.
He’d felt the thrill of arousal from the second he saw her. It wasn’t so unusual to feel an immediate pull to a woman, but she really wasn’t his type. She was smaller, curvier and another species to name a few differences, but hey, attraction was attraction.
No, it wasn’t until she’d looked at him across the conference table that he really knew he was in trouble. She didn’t look away. His beast stared right at her, and she didn’t flinch, or bare her neck in submission. It kind of pissed off his dominant side, but that was eclipsed by how much it turned him on. If she were a shifter, she would have looked away. She would have been forced to. But no, she met his gaze with those deep, soulful eyes, she trapped him with the vulnerability he saw flashing in them and, fuck, he wanted to reach over that damn table and pull her into his arms.
Fuck, this was bad.
Why did she have to come to work wearing a figure hugging skirt and blouse? It showed off far too much of her curvy legs, and damnit, ended in those come-fuck-me heels. Yes, he already wanted to, he didn’t need those heels making her look any hotter than she already did. From the brief touches he’d allowed himself, he was already besotted with her. He wanted to run his hands all over her. No, not just his hands, he wanted his mouth on her. He wanted to taste, lick, nuzzle, and savor every inch of her delectable looking skin.
Why the hell did she have to be human? She was so frail, so fragile. What if he hadn’t been there today? That fucking wolf would have ripped
her apart. His heart almost stopped when he heard her yell, and his beast was only just really starting to calm now. He knew it was a bad idea to have a human on the team, but he had no idea how bad. He couldn’t trust her to be on her own. What if she got into a dangerous situation and he wasn’t there to protect her? He couldn’t trust Cutter or Wayne to look after her.
Gunner banged his fist onto the table as his beast roared in fury. No, they were males, he wouldn’t allow them anywhere near her anyway. Who knows what they might try!
No, he needed to be with her, he needed to protect her. God knows she wasn’t doing an adequate job herself. The security at her apartment was pathetic. Barbie protected her dream house better than Erin did herself. Something had to be done about that.
“Hey, BBB!”
Gunner smothered the growl that wanted to escape as he was surrounded by his teammates.
Jessie bustled into a seat beside him, ignoring the glower on his face. The squirrel was far too brave for her own good. “There you are!”
Wayne called over to the buxom waitress for a round of beers. She simpered and purposefully squeezed her breasts together. His animal chuffed in annoyance. Usually, he liked this bar. It was a supernatural friendly bar that a lot of the SEA agents frequented. There was always a strong sexual charge in the bar that, ordinarily, he found appealing. At that moment, it was just pissing him off. A shifter could meet other shifters, and also human groupies who were dying to be bedded by shifters. Not that he’d ever been with a human; they’d never appealed to him. Before today, that is. Until a certain curvy brunette human with big doe eyes barged into his life.
Avery made a big show of looking around the table and its occupants. “Where’s Erin? Didn’t you invite her?”
Gunner bristled. “She was tired; she’s had a big day.”
Jessie creased her brow in sympathy. “Was she injured badly?”
Too badly for his liking. “She’ll have bruises for a few days, but she’ll be okay.”
“The perils of being human,” mused Wayne.
“Maybe she’ll remember her fucking gun in future,” grumbled Cutter.
Gunner let out a warning growl. “Not a word.”
Avery slapped the grumpy wolf on the back. “Yeah, go easy on her. Without Erin, we’d still be running around re-interviewing people. She cracked a case within an hour that would have taken us days or even weeks.”
Cutter huffed in irritation. “We would have gotten there eventually.”
Jessie looked at Gunner hopefully. “She is coming back tomorrow, right? We haven’t scared her away?”
“Yeah, she’ll be back.” She better be, or he had half a mind to stalk over to her badly protected apartment and drag her out kicking and screaming. Actually, throwing her over his shoulder didn’t sound half bad. No, not bad at all.
Shit, he had to get his lust for the damn woman under control. He muttered about needing to take a leak.
His teammates ignored him, thank the freaking gods, at least he appeared to be acting normal, even if he felt like his insides were tearing apart over the darn woman. He reflected that all he had to do was be grouchy and terse, and he’d get away with it.
Although, when he went out drinking, invariably, it ended with him taking a willing female home. He needed to get around that somehow without enduring the jabs about his virility that would inevitably come if he didn’t. But there was no way in hell he could be with another woman, not when his every thought was directed at the human. He had a raging hard on, but the thought of sinking inside someone other than Erin seriously cooled his ardor. Not that his irate bear would ever allow him to do anything like that. Yes, that was it; he had to imagine other women. He had to go back through all the women he’d been with, and that would make his current, ahem, condition a little more manageable. Or a little less able to pound nails into wood.
“Gunner,” called a silken voice.
The tigress shifter caught up with him just as he was about to escape into the bathroom. Fuck, well that was enough to make him wilt. It wasn’t all bad he supposed.
“Isis,” he growled.
She leaned against the wall, blocking the way. She was an attractive woman, and she knew it, mercilessly flirting with anyone and everyone in the Agency who could possibly advance her career. And, heaven save him, they’d spent more than a couple of nights together. As he recalled, they’d spent some very satisfactory hours together. Not satisfactory enough to make him lose all his senses, like she was hoping, and recruit her to his team, but satisfactory. The nights together stopped when it became clear he didn’t want someone on his team that he’d slept with. He just didn’t think that people could work together when personal feelings were involved. Although, he hadn’t slept with Erin and he was losing his mind over her anyway. So maybe he should rethink that policy. Just in case he was lucky enough to get anywhere with her…
Isis pouted full red lips at him and flicked her red hair over her shoulder.
“I met your new teammate today,” she sneered. “I give her a week.”
His bear snarled at him to defend Erin, but Gunner held his tongue and grunted noncommittally. If he said anything, it would put Isis’ guard up and make the tigress think something was going on between him and Erin. Which it wasn’t. No way. Well, not yet anyway.
“First day and she’s already almost been killed by a wolf shifter. She’s a fucking joke. Gerry’s losing it.”
Gunner raised an eyebrow. Now that was something he could object to. “The Director knows what he’s doing.”
Isis pounced on that. “So you think having her on your team is a good thing?”
How to phrase this delicately? “I’d rather she wasn’t a field agent, but I can’t deny that her abilities will be helpful. I’d prefer her to be my consultant.”
There – easy peasy. Mostly because it was the truth. He hadn’t wanted her on the team before because he thought she’d slow him down. Now, he didn’t want her on the team because he was terrified she might get hurt.
The tigress thought that over for a few moments and then nodded her head in agreement. Ruthless and fearsome though she may be, Isis was a good agent. Begrudgingly, and against his bear’s wishes, he admitted that she was a much better agent than Erin could ever hope to be. But then she didn’t have Erin’s gifts.
Isis grinned, and her eyes flashed to the yellow of her beast. “You know, Wes would love to have her on his team. He was jealous when he found out you were getting her.”
Gunner smothered the snarl his bear wanted to release. Wes was Isis’ team leader. They were the Gamma team, and they dealt with thefts and robberies.
“You could suggest a swap to the Director?”
She fluttered her eyelashes and Gunner almost couldn’t withhold his snort. No, even if he thought for a second the Director would agree to it, he wasn’t going to suggest that. He could probably cope with Isis on his team, but he didn’t trust the idiot, Wes to keep his Erin safe. Not for one second. No, the only place for her was on his team.
“The Director won’t go for that,” he replied gruffly. “Excuse me.”
He pushed past her, ignoring her outraged growl and bolted for the bathroom. He hoped he was safe from her in there at least.
If his interaction with Isis reminded him of anything, it was that people who slept together shouldn’t work together. The problem was that he wanted her, badly. His bear wanted her, and hid body yearned to be with her. But, if they were together, his need to protect her would just sky rocket, and it was already pretty unmanageable. But, he didn’t trust anyone else in the whole of the SEA to protect her, either.
He was caught between a rock and a hard place. And no, that had nothing to do with his cock that was downright unbearable at that moment. He wanted her, but he didn’t want to turn into a possessive psychopath.
Gunner shook his head, ignoring the infuriated wails of his beast. He had to keep his dirty paws to himself. To protect her, he couldn’t really be
with her.
Huh. Well, that sucked.
He was seriously unhappy about that. Maybe it was for the best though. He had his doubts about what kind of mate a human would make for a polar bear. She was such a small thing, would she be able to cope with bearing his young?
Well, he wasn’t about to find out. Because, in spite of a certain hairy, sulky beast’s disapproval, he was going to keep his distance. It was for the best.
Yep, he kept telling himself that.
There was just one issue that had him gravely disturbed. What was he supposed to do if she started dating someone else?
Ugh, life wasn’t fair.
Chapter Six
“Erin, you’re late,” growled Gunner.
Erin leaped out of her chair in surprise, spilling coffee all over herself and her computer. Gunner groaned audibly, making numerous other agents look round.
She dabbed ineffectively at the liquid while mumbling an apology. Rolling his eyes, he knocked her hands out of the way and began mopping up the coffee himself. He leaned over her in the tiny cubicle, pinning her to her chair and brushing his hard body against hers. He diligently got every last drop from her computer and then started dabbing at her clothes; it was only when he skimmed her breast, and she let out a moan that he stopped. Was it her imagination, or was there a light dusting of pink over his cheeks?
He cleared his throat and stood up towering over her, completely oblivious to the interested looks of everyone else in the office. “Just to be clear, if you break your computer, you have to pay for it.”
“I’m sorry, you just startled me.”
What did he expect? He practically crept up on her and shouted at her! He was just lucky the contents of her cup didn’t go all over him.
“Yes, I seem to be making a habit out of that,” he muttered. “You’re late.”
“I was…”
“Save it, the Director wants to see us, you can explain it to him.”
Shoot. Just what she needed - a meeting with the boss’ boss while sporting a very unbecoming brown stain. Even worse, she’d been wearing a white shirt and the wetness was making it cling to her, showing off the curves of her breasts and the shape of her bra.
